Two Bomb Squad members sentenced to federal prison

PEORIA — Two members of the Bomb Squad were sentenced Monday to federal prison for drug trafficking and violence in the city affiliated with the street gang.

Spencer Furlow, 25, of Peoria was sentenced to nine years after pleading guilty in November to possession of a firearm during a drug-trafficking offense.

Furlow had hoped for eight years based on a plea agreement with prosecutors, but Chief U.S. District Judge James Shadid rejected that. He had hinted eight years was too low at a sentencing hearing in February. In an unusual move, Shadid refused to accept the deal and said he would hold off until he had sentenced others.

He said he didn’t want Furlow, considered one of the gang’s founders, to get a sentence that wasn’t in line with what other gang members faced.

On Monday, despite attempts by defense attorneys to convince Shadid that Furlow’s influence had waned, he tacked on another year, saying Furlow’s involvement in the gang merited nine years.

Co-defendant Orlando Mack, 22, who pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to use guns to further drug trafficking, was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

In 2012, 14 men were charged with being gang members as well as conspiring to use guns and to distribute drugs. The gang was targeted by law enforcement as part of the Don’t Shoot initiative.